Substrate processing device and determination method

Abstract

In a substrate processing device, a technique that achieves OR transfer satisfying a specified condition is provided. The substrate processing device includes an identifying unit configured to refer to usage states of a plurality of process modules at process time slots to identify one or more process modules that can execute processes of substrates included in a control job to be processed among process modules that can be used at the process time slots, a calculating unit configured to assign the processes of the substrates to respective process time slots of the one or more process modules identified by the identifying unit to calculate a time duration from a start to an end of the processes of the substrates, and a determining unit configured to determine start timing of starting the processes of the substrates so that the time duration calculated by the calculating unit satisfies a specified condition.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A substrate processing device comprising:
 a transfer arm; 
 a plurality of process modules; 
 a memory; and 
 a processor coupled with the memory and configured to: 
 refer to usage states of the plurality of process modules at process time slots to identify one or more process modules that can execute processes of substrates included in a control job to be processed among process modules that can be used at the process time slots; 
 assign the processes of the substrates to respective process time slots of the identified one or more process modules to calculate a time duration from a start to an end of the processes of the substrates; and 
 determine a start timing of starting the processes of the substrates so that the calculated time duration satisfies a specified condition, 
 wherein the transfer arm transfers the substrates to the identified one or more process modules based on the determined start timing. 
 
     
     
       2. The substrate processing device as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor determines the start timing so that the calculated time duration does not exceed a Q-time specified to the control job. 
 
     
     
       3. The substrate processing device as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor determines whether a number of the identified one or more process modules increases when the calculated time duration does not satisfy the specified condition, the time duration being from the start to the end of the processes of the substrates when a current process timing is used as the start timing, and 
 wherein when the processor has determined that the number of process modules has increased, the processor calculates a time duration from the start to the end of the processes of the substrates when a process timing after the processor has determined that the number of process modules has increased is used as the start timing. 
 
     
     
       4. The substrate processing device as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to reorder a plurality of process jobs to determine execution order of the plurality of process jobs, in the control job to be processed that includes the plurality of process jobs, 
 wherein the processor assigns the processes of the substrates included in the plurality of process jobs to the respective process time slots of the identified one or more process modules according to the determined execution order to calculate a time duration from the start to the end of the processes of the substrates included in the plurality of process jobs. 
 
     
     
       5. The substrate processing device as claimed in  claim 4 ,
 wherein the processor reorders the plurality of process jobs in order from a smallest number of process modules that can be executed in parallel, and when there are process jobs having a same number of process modules that can be executed in parallel, the processor reorders the process jobs in order from a largest number of substrates, and when there are process jobs having the same number of process modules that can be executed in parallel and having a same number of substrates, the processor reorders the process jobs in generating order of the process jobs to determine the execution order of the plurality of process jobs. 
 
     
     
       6. The substrate processing device as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is further configured to compare the time duration from the start to the end of the processes of the substrates with the specified condition to determine whether the control job to be processed can be received, the time duration from the start to the end of the processes of the substrates being calculated by assigning the processes of the substrates to the respective process time slots of all process modules that can execute the processes of the substrates included in the control job to be processed. 
 
     
     
       7. The substrate processing device as claimed in  claim 6 ,
 wherein the processor determines that the control job to be processed cannot be received when determining that the specified condition is not satisfied, and determines that the control job to be processed can be received when determining that the specified condition is satisfied. 
 
     
     
       8. A determination method performed by a substrate processing device including a transfer arm, a plurality of process modules, a memory_ and a processor coupled with the memory, the determination method comprising:
 referring to usage states of the plurality of process modules at process time slots to identify one or more process modules that can execute processes of substrates included in a control job to be processed among process modules that can be used at the process time slots; 
 assigning the processes of the substrates to respective process time slots of the identified one or more process modules to calculate a time duration from a start to an end of the processes of the substrates; and 
 determining a start timing of starting the processes of the substrates so that the calculated time duration satisfies a specified condition, 
 wherein the transfer arm transfers the substrates to the identified one or more process modules based on the determined start timing.